#1: Linus is mortal. No, really. His hair and earring may say otherwise but he's just like everyone else.

#2: Around here we've had great experiences with ASUS' P8Z68V-PRO. We've reviewed it and I use one for my personal system. The UEFI BIOS is easy for new users without being daunting and its auto overclocking will give you that little (or big) extra boost when you need it.